Sunday, October 19, 2008

Would You Care for a Spot of Tea...

... if it has alcohol in it? We drank spiked tea at my 28th birthday party on Friday night. The theme was "Dead Southern Belles" so drinking out of tea cups seemed appropriate, but plain ol' hot tea would have been pretty boring. So we drank Georgia Peach Iced Tea (sans the ice). It's a Southern twist on the classic Long Island Iced Tea. Here we are enjoying our beverages:

Left to right: Anne, Steph, Misti, Me (recognize the dress? it's also in my banner), Greg (in a wig and dress), Holley, and Judith ... by the way, we're trying to look solemn here...

I wanted Steph to look decapitated here ... you know, since it was a "dead" party and all.

Steph runs a cake business and she had to make a crap ton of these for a wedding the day before my party. So she made extras for us! There were two flavors, but I don't remember exactly what they were. One was vanilla-y and the other was ginger-ish. Both were to die for! And so perfect for a tea party!

I made flower-shaped Tofu Dill Salad Finger Sandwiches:

I used the tofu salad recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and multigrain bread from the Whole Foods Bakery. Then I attempted to cut the sandwiches out with flower cookie cutters. Some looked better than others, but they were still pretty cute.

I also made Walnut Mushroom Paté with Whole Wheat Mini Toasts:

The paté recipe is from the Veganomicon, and it's one that Steph's made on a number of occasions for special events. I'd tried hers and knew it'd be perfect to make for this party. It's made with cremini mushrooms, toasted walnuts, onions, vinegar, and some other spices.

Wes couldn't stay for the party since he burned his hand while cooking biscuits last week, but he showed up early to drop off his super-delicious Vegan Corn Salad:

He combines white corn, tomatoes, red onion, green pepper, and since he's not vegan, he usually adds mayonaise. But this time, he borrowed some Veganaise so me and my crazy vegan friends could eat it. Wes also gave me a temperature-control deep fryer as my birthday gift. I can't wait to deep fry some breaded okra in it!

Happy Birthday. I remember being 28 like it was um...12 years ago (which it was). It was a great age - much better than 29, which is when I had my pre-30 freak-out. 30 was actually pretty good because I had pre-freaked.

The eats look fab and the party guests do too. I'm glad you had an enjoyable birthday with your family. The carrot cake looks dreamy.

your dead southern belle party looks awesome, Bianca! and it looks like everyone had fun, too! i love the little sammies and the wee toast - they're just too cute! how super sweet of Wes to drop off some tasty corn salad, and for Steph to make some tasty treats, too! mmmmmmmmmm!